"American Indian communities are often offered up as the gold standard of dysfunction in America. With our high rates of entrenched poverty, we top the lists of addiction, suicide and other social ills. It’s platitude that, frankly, gets tiring to hear.

We in the media like to describe the best and the worst. Admittedly, it does make for easier headline writing and more exciting copy. Unfortunately, this love of drama often overlooks the real story, especially in Indian Country, where revolutions tend to grow quietly.

Constitutional reform is one of those quiet revolutions sweeping Indian Country today. According to researchers from The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, the key to socio-economic development in Indian Country begins with creation of sound, effective governance. And many tribes now are actively engaged in rewriting their constitutions."

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Mary Annette Pember: Successful Tribes Are Reshaping Governance (The Daily Yonder 5/10)